Cash woes force Zimbabwe to cancel match

HARARE, Feb 7 (Reuters) Zimbabwe have been forced to cancel a planned friendly against Lesotho on Wednesday because they could not raise the money for the trip, the state-run Herald newspaper reported today.

The Zimbabwe Football Association were unable to find a sponsor for the 33,480 dollar needed for the trip to Maseru.

Zimbabwe had hoped to field a full-strength side, including their Portsmouth striker Benjani Mwaruwari, in a warm-up game before an African Nations Cup qualifier against Morocco in Harare next month.

''This means we will only have basically three days of full training before we play Morocco and this leaves us with a mountain to climb if we are to be really prepared,'' coach Charles Mhlauri told the newspaper.

REUTERS DH PM2047